1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a through section shielding construction in which in order to prevent intrusion of a foreign object into a partitioned area partitioned by a partitioning wall penetrating a slit-like opening provided as a penetrating member moving passage, a penetrating-member absence portion of the slit-like opening is kept closed with a shielding plate which can be pivotally opened/closed for allowing movement of a penetrating member.
More particularly, the invention relates to such through section shielding construction wherein the partitioning wall defines the slit-like opening extending along a lateral direction as the moving passage of the penetrating member relative to the partitioning wall, and a plurality of shielding plates for closing the slit-like opening are juxtaposed along the slit-like opening as being suspended pivotally to be pushed open one after another by the penetrating member moving along the slit-like opening.
2. Background Art
The through section shielding construction of the above-noted type is used in e.g. a painting installation wherein an object to be painted by being submerged in a paint tank is carried in association with a movement of a penetrating member, while the object is being supported by this penetrating member. This construction can obtain higher durability when using shielding plates, compared with a construction in which the slit-like opening is closed in a curtain-like manner, with a soft material. Conventionally, with this type of through section shielding construction, the respective shielding plates juxtaposed along the slit-like opening are suspended to be pivotable independently of each other.
However, with the above-described conventional construction using the shielding plates suspended to be pivotable independently of each other, when the moving penetrating member pushes open the shielding plate and passes through the disposing position of this shielding plate, in succession, when the penetrating member has moved away from the shielding plate, the shielding plate which has been pivotally opened upwards will be allowed to fall freely to its closing suspended state, in the course of which a large noise such as a friction noise or collision noise will be generated. And, during the continued movement of the penetrating member, such free fall of the shielding plate occurs for the plurality of shielding plates one after another, thus causing a significant noise.